3 ms·

> You realize in the US 30% of the population is obese and almost 10% of us have diabetes, right? Those people are probably going to die at 60-70 y/o anyway.

> You realize in the US 30% of the population is obese and almost 10% of us have diabetes, right? Those people are probably going to die at 60-70 y/o anyway. And besides, that's self-inflicted. Once people realize that it's preventing them from reaching their full lifespan, they'll change if they want to. And if they don't, well, I'm not gonna complain if I get better retirement benefits as a result. > Right, because sitting at a desk for forty years is the key to good health. Once again, this is largely self-inflicted. You can stay relatively healthy while working a desk job. Stop buying junk food and get a gym membership. Try getting up and walking a bit during your workday - take a stroll outside during lunch. You can certainly be healthier than people were 50 years ago working at a car factory. > And again, there's no reason to believe this is true. There's no reason to believe it isn't true. Society has just accepted that people have to stop working at 65. Why not try increasing the retirement age gradually and see what happens? People don't suddenly lose the ability to work when they turn 65.

tsotha 14y ago
>Those people are probably going to die at 60-70 y/o anyway. Maybe, though doctors are getting pretty good at treating obesity-related problems. In any event they're going retire in their fifties (or earlier), so from a social services standpoint we're not coming out ahead. > You can stay relatively healthy while working a desk job. The key word being relatively. Taking a walk at lunch and spending an hour at the gym isn't going to make you as healthy as someone who does physical activity all day. >There's no reason to believe it isn't true. Society has just accepted that people have to stop working at 65. Actually, yes, there is a reason to believe it isn't true. We have made effectively zero progress in arresting age-related cognitive decline. Until we do you can raise the retirement age to whatever you want - even people who are still pretty sharp aren't going to be able to find jobs because employers won't want to chance hiring a madogiwa.
philwelch 14y ago
It's not illegal to work after age 65, and Social Security is barely a pittance so it's even encouraged.

tsotha 14y ago

>Those people are probably going to die at 60-70 y/o anyway. Maybe, though doctors are getting pretty good at treating obesity-related problems. In any event they're going retire in their fifties (or earlier), so from a social services standpoint we're not coming out ahead. > You can stay relatively healthy while working a desk job. The key word being relatively. Taking a walk at lunch and spending an hour at the gym isn't going to make you as healthy as someone who does physical activity all day. >There's no reason to believe it isn't true. Society has just accepted that people have to stop working at 65. Actually, yes, there is a reason to believe it isn't true. We have made effectively zero progress in arresting age-related cognitive decline. Until we do you can raise the retirement age to whatever you want - even people who are still pretty sharp aren't going to be able to find jobs because employers won't want to chance hiring a madogiwa.

philwelch 14y ago

It's not illegal to work after age 65, and Social Security is barely a pittance so it's even encouraged.